HOUSTON (Ticker) -- Carolyn Hall may have become the first mother in NFL history to receive a game ball.
Enjoying his return home, Dante Hall returned a punt 77 yards for a touchdown, helping the Kansas City Chiefs to a 42-14 rout of the Houston Texans.
It may have been the home opener for the Texans, but it was a joyous homecoming for a trio of Chiefs, including Hall, who attended Nimitz High School in Houston and Texas A&M University.
Hall, who celebrated his 25th birthday Saturday, had 174 yards of total offense, including a 16-yard run that helped set up Kansas City's first score.
"Playing here and getting the win means a lot to me," he said. "When I was looking at the schedule in the offseason and I saw that we got to play this game at home on my birthday, I knew someone was looking out for me."
That someone may have been his mother, Carolyn, who cooked dinner for him Saturday and made a red velvet cake with pecans on top.
"It doesn't get much better than that," Hall said.
"We are going to give the game ball to his mother," Chiefs coach Dick Vermeil added. "She cooked for him last night and we are going to bring her home with us."
Priest Holmes scored a pair of touchdown runs and backup Derrick Blaylock - both of whom have Texas roots - added another for the Chiefs, who improved to 3-0 for the first time since 1996. Their three wins have come by an average of 20 points.
"The whole goal is to get back here in February," Hall said. "We know the Super Bowl is going to be here later this year and this win is just one of the steps that we have to take to get there."
Rookie Andre Johnson collected his first two career TD receptions, but the Texans (1-2) committed four turnovers in the first-ever meeting between the teams. David Carr threw a pair of interceptions.
"The game got away from us and you have to give K.C. credit," Texans coach Dom Capers said. "They have a very good football team."
Holmes opened the scoring 6:23 into the game, capping an 84-yard drive with a six-yard run. After a 43-yard TD connection between Carr and Johnson, Holmes finished a 69-yard march with a five-yard run, making it 14-7 with three seconds left in the first quarter.
Proving he is over a hip injury suffered late last season, Holmes carried 18 times for 89 yards through three quarters before calling it a day. It was a pretty good homecoming for Holmes, who attended the University of Texas and lives in San Antonio.
"It was fun to come back to my home state and do this in front of some of my friends and family," said Holmes, who won the NFL rushing title in 2002 and was leading last year before hurting his hip.
Trent Green threw a 15-yard scoring strike to Eddie Kennison for a 21-7 lead with 3:14 left in the third quarter. Less than two minutes later, Hall put away the game.
The 5-8, 187-pounder fielded the punt on a hop at his own 23 and maintained his balance after breaking a tackle. He darted right and sprinted down the sideline, picking up a convey of blockers at the 10 and trotting into the end zone.
It was the third career punt return for a score by Hall, who returned a kickoff 100 yards for a TD in last week's win over Pittsburgh. He has five returns for touchdowns during his four-year career.
"This is the first time in my career that I've ever been affiliated with a team that has scored on special teams two weeks in a row," Vermeil said.
With Holmes on the bench, Blaylock finished off a three-play, 85-yard drive with a 20-yard TD run. It was the first career touchdown for Blaylock, who was raised in Atlanta, Texas and graduated from Stephen F. Austin in Nacogdoches, Texas.
Safety Shaunard Harts made it 42-7 by returning an interception 39 yards for a score with seven minutes to play.
The third overall pick in this year's draft out of Miami, Johnson added a four-yard TD grab from Tony Banks to cap the scoring with 1:54 to play. He finished with seven catches for 102 yards.
Like last week's loss to New Orleans, the Texans unraveled in the second half, when they committed all four of their turnovers.
"It was kind of like what happened last week ... and it got out of hand quickly," said Carr, who was 17-of-27 for 167 yards. "A couple of turnovers later and we were just out there trying to play catchup."
Green completed 16-of-28 passes for 262 yards. Holmes led Chiefs receivers with four catches for 67 yards.
